# My new VinoTemp.



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

Well here is my new VinoTemp. This set up of it is temporary until I get a couple of shelves. I loaded all my sticks into spare boxes and pulled the boxes away from the back wall in case of condensation. Does anyone see any issues with how this is set up? I have the CO and a ton of wet/dry beads in there. I think this set up will be good until the shelves get cut. :tu

Thoughts/comments/banter all welcome.


----------



## CeeGar (Feb 19, 2007)

looks great! Enjoy it :tu


----------



## Oyin (Oct 8, 2007)

nice set up! looks like you got some mighty happy stogies :tu


----------



## scrapiron (Jun 24, 2006)

Looks great... No more worries about hot summer nights!


----------



## stevieray (Sep 28, 2006)

sweet!!


----------



## Rahllin (May 25, 2007)

Hey! You stole my wine cooler! Heh, I have the same exact model, and so does a friend of mine. Its a great cooler, but there is a bit of a drip problem from the condesation down the back of the cooler. Both my friend and I have "ghetto rigged" a drainage system that works amazingly.


----------



## 68TriShield (May 15, 2006)

That looks great Darrell!


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

Rahllin said:


> Hey! You stole my wine cooler! Heh, I have the same exact model, and so does a friend of mine. Its a great cooler, but there is a bit of a drip problem from the condesation down the back of the cooler. Both my friend and I have "ghetto rigged" a drainage system that works amazingly.


Hey brother, any chance you could PM me the info on the drainage system?


----------



## gary106334 (Sep 28, 2006)

That looks great Darrell. :tu


----------



## Perry72 (Apr 20, 2007)

Grats Darrell, looks awesome...:ss


----------



## RPB67 (Mar 26, 2005)

Enjoy and have fun filling that bad baby up..... :tu


----------



## Marlboro Cigars-cl (Feb 19, 2007)

Congrats on the new humi!!
:tu


----------



## OSIRIS (Jul 15, 2007)

Looking Good Darrell


----------



## doctorcue (Apr 19, 2006)

I'm gonna have to check that out during the herf. I'm so close to pulling the trigger on one. Looks great. I like stainless steel! Very nice Darrell.


----------



## bobarian (Oct 1, 2007)

Very nice setup bro:tu Plenty of room for those ISOM's now:ss


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

Thanks brothers. :tu


----------



## SDmate (Apr 24, 2005)

Looks great mate!:tu

btw what model vinotemp is it..


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

SDmate said:


> Looks great mate!:tu
> 
> btw what model vinotemp is it..


Here it is brother. :tu

http://www.target.com/Vinotemp-28-B...342?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k:vinotemp&page=1


----------



## JRM (May 19, 2007)

Nice! I'm going to pull the trigger on something similar soon. Enjoy.


----------



## hoax (Aug 7, 2007)

Congrats d00d.


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

hoax said:


> Congrats d00d.


Thanks Justyn. Pm me your cell #, Mike and I are having the usual 2 man HERF and I will call you. :tu


----------



## SDmate (Apr 24, 2005)

Darrell said:


> Here it is brother. :tu
> 
> http://www.target.com/Vinotemp-28-B...342?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k:vinotemp&page=1


that's a h3ll of a deal for a thermoelectric cooler:tu


----------



## pnoon (Jun 8, 2005)

SDmate said:


> that's a h3ll of a deal for a thermoelectric cooler:tu


Go get one and fill it.
Then, I can smoke out of your "cooler"


----------



## vstrommark (Oct 25, 2007)

Darrell said:


> Here it is brother. :tu
> 
> http://www.target.com/Vinotemp-28-B...342?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k:vinotemp&page=1


That's a great deal - or at least it seems that way to me. Gotta go visit the local Target tomorrow (the online store says that my local has them in stock).


----------



## Seanohue (Oct 2, 2006)

Pretty sweet Darrell!


----------



## SDmate (Apr 24, 2005)

pnoon said:


> Go get one and fill it.
> Then, I can smoke out of your "cooler"


I've already got a cooler Pete, it's full too....of my wife's red wine:hn


----------



## pnoon (Jun 8, 2005)

SDmate said:


> I've already got a cooler Pete, it's full too....of my wife's red wine:hn


That'll work. :al :al :al


----------



## zemekone (Aug 1, 2004)

I think u should throw in one of the wire wine racks on the bottom. Sometimes when it gets too humid (rarely) water tends to collect at the bottom. On mine i have a cedar shelf at the bottom...


----------



## Harpo (Oct 11, 2007)

That thing is incredibly sexy...


----------



## daniyal (Oct 9, 2007)

Great set up! Wish I could find one of those bad boys here..


----------



## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

Nice setup, but I still see some empty space...


----------



## jkorp (Sep 27, 2007)

Attached it what I did for my Avanti, and I would guess the Vinotemp is similar in design (I'll know soon becaues I have one coming in the mail). Basically I filled in the drain with Silicone. I bought a 3 pack of flexable cutting boards from Walmart and created a little ramped slide to divert the condensate into the humidifier. I hope the picture makes sense.


----------



## Silound (May 22, 2007)

Great idea man! Now if I can only figure out how to get my flow going into my CO I'd be set. Anyone figured out how to rig that yet?



jkorp said:


> Attached it what I did for my Avanti, and I would guess the Vinotemp is similar in design (I'll know soon becaues I have one coming in the mail). Basically I filled in the drain with Silicone. I bought a 3 pack of flexable cutting boards from Walmart and created a little ramped slide to divert the condensate into the humidifier. I hope the picture makes sense.


----------



## daniyal (Oct 9, 2007)

jkorp said:


> Attached it what I did for my Avanti, and I would guess the Vinotemp is similar in design (I'll know soon becaues I have one coming in the mail). Basically I filled in the drain with Silicone. I bought a 3 pack of flexable cutting boards from Walmart and created a little ramped slide to divert the condensate into the humidifier. I hope the picture makes sense.





Silound said:


> Great idea man! Now if I can only figure out how to get my flow going into my CO I'd be set. Anyone figured out how to rig that yet?


Just a stab in the dark but would the condensation lead to distilled water? the water so produced may contain certain harmful chemicals..


----------



## Kngof9ex (May 24, 2007)

nice i went to home depot and bought some of the metal wire closet shelves and cut them down with the dremel. they are nice because they are flat as opposed to the ones that come in the cooler(shaped like wine bottles). plus i get better airflow then solid shelves. i have one plexiglass shelve and i have to put holes in it because with out them i had humidity problems but other than that its great congrats


----------



## Silound (May 22, 2007)

It's possible, but in this particular case, no. The cooling sink is a food-grade aluminum based sink.

Distilled water is simply water that has been evaporated and then re-condensated for the simple purpose of removing mineral impurities in the water. Boiling and solar evaporation are the most common ways water is distilled. In this case, we are literally distilling water inside of the coolers. As long as the cooling sink is non-hazmat, the water produced is perfectly good to reuse again.



daniyal said:


> Just a stab in the dark but would the condensation lead to distilled water? the water so produced may contain certain harmful chemicals..


----------



## jkorp (Sep 27, 2007)

daniyal said:


> Just a stab in the dark but would the condensation lead to distilled water? the water so produced may contain certain harmful chemicals..


I guess, and if I am understanding you right, that if you cleaned the chiller before hand, then the condensate should be as clean as the water you started with. Since the condensate is just water from the air that is collection on the heat sink I would think that no toxins are what ever are being added.


----------



## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

Nicely done,,,love the stainless steel look,,goes anywhere and would probably look good in my office,,,hmm,,,xmas gift (stroking beard softly )


----------



## Rahllin (May 25, 2007)

Darrell said:


> Hey brother, any chance you could PM me the info on the drainage system?


:r Its REALLY ghetto... it involves tape, pieces of a funnel... and one of those refillable ketchup bottle things... It works great, but its definitely a temporary solution. I'll take pictures and show you when I get home. Worr Lord also has his ghetto rigged, and I know he likes his setup, I'll tell him to send some pics too. Eventually, I plan on setting something up where I can funnel the drip into a small tube and drill a hole out the back of the cooler where the tube runs into a bucket. The drainage system I have setup now... need to be emptied around once every week or two depending on the conditions in my apartment.


----------



## jkorp (Sep 27, 2007)

Rahllin said:


> :r Its REALLY ghetto... it involves tape, pieces of a funnel... and one of those refillable ketchup bottle things... It works great, but its definitely a temporary solution. I'll take pictures and show you when I get home. Worr Lord also has his ghetto rigged, and I know he likes his setup, I'll tell him to send some pics too. Eventually, I plan on setting something up where I can funnel the drip into a small tube and drill a hole out the back of the cooler where the tube runs into a bucket. The drainage system I have setup now... need to be emptied around once every week or two depending on the conditions in my apartment.


Thats why I think once you get the humidity level where you like it, you want to recycle the condensate by getting it back to your beads, foam or what ever. This creates a relatively closed system, only lossing a small amount of humidity when you open the chiller.

I forgot to mention, in my setup I have an Oust fan pointed at the humidifier box. For the humidifier box I am using a small spanish cedar cab, that I cut down to fit. The foam and the cedar hold the moister and release as necessary (with the fan aiding). My RH stays around 64% -67%.


----------



## jkorp (Sep 27, 2007)

Silound said:


> Great idea man! Now if I can only figure out how to get my flow going into my CO I'd be set. Anyone figured out how to rig that yet?


This would take a little more rigging, but I think it would be do-able. Once my Vino arrives, this week hopefully, I will take a look and see what can be done.

However, I would suggest just having a small container of foam or beads to catch the condensate. This would be mush easier and give you a little extra humidification power (not that it's needed with these type of set ups).


----------



## BigFrankMD (Aug 31, 2007)

Only problem I see is the fact that it isnt packed!


----------



## borndead1 (Oct 21, 2006)

I got one of these for the bottom of mine:

http://www.famous-smoke.com/cigars/search/accstats.cfm/inum/17530

The only other thing I would do is point 1 of the Oust fans toward the back wall, it will help disperse any condensation.

Lookin' good, now fill 'er up! :tu


----------



## SmokeyJoe (Oct 3, 2006)

Looks great Darrell! :ss
Nice set-up... maybe one day I will graduate to that. :tu


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

I need to hurry up and get some shelves, it looks kind of getting without them.


----------



## Don Fernando (Jan 1, 2000)

Nice vino, Darrell !!

threadjack on
Now ..... send me your address, dammit !! ... lol (PM me)
threadjack off


----------



## Silound (May 22, 2007)

I asked, how many and do you prefer black or white  Takes me about an hour one Saturday to make them.



Darrell said:


> I need to hurry up and get some shelves, it looks kind of getting without them.


----------



## nozero (Jul 7, 2007)

monsoon said:


> threadjack off


That just sounds so wrong. 

Nice Cooler Darrell! I've been thinking about one of these due to the hot summers here in TX, but wondered about the condensation... Heck they're cheaper than a lot of humidors! If you do the deal and setup the drainage thing, pics would be sweet?
:tu


----------



## tedrodgerscpa (Jun 22, 2006)

volum said:


> Nice setup, but I still see some empty space...


Me too... I'd try to fill up that empty space with boxes... No, not full boxes, but empty boxes... It's easier to regulate a little bit of air than a lot of it, and having the empties will help.

Besides, all of my empties wind up filling up with sticks from trades.

Then, I empty em out....

Then, they fill up again...

Kind of a circle.


----------



## tedrodgerscpa (Jun 22, 2006)

Oh, and that nasty 'Vinotemp' sticker comes off with a little elbow grease!










That's a picture of my vinotemp from a few months ago... Still use the desktop on the top shelf for keeping my 'on deck' smokes, and the curly head deluxe boxes for other 'stuff'


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

Silound said:


> I asked, how many and do you prefer black or white  Takes me about an hour one Saturday to make them.


Hey bro, sorry I accidently deleted the PM you sent me. Jeremy is actually sending me a bunch of extras he had from his VinoTemps. Thanks for the offer though.

I am going to figure out some way to rig the condensation issue. I will figure it out soon though.


----------



## barbourjay (Aug 9, 2007)

Darrell said:


> I need to hurry up and get some shelves, it looks kind of getting without them.


you'll have them by the end of the week hopefully :tu


----------



## Rahllin (May 25, 2007)

jkorp said:


> Thats why I think once you get the humidity level where you like it, you want to recycle the condensate by getting it back to your beads, foam or what ever. This creates a relatively closed system, only lossing a small amount of humidity when you open the chiller.
> 
> I forgot to mention, in my setup I have an Oust fan pointed at the humidifier box. For the humidifier box I am using a small spanish cedar cab, that I cut down to fit. The foam and the cedar hold the moister and release as necessary (with the fan aiding). My RH stays around 64% -67%.


I also thought this would be a good idea, so did worr lord. He tried it, and he discovered that the leak was to much and had his beads flooded in a matter of days. Its a good idea in theory, sort of. When you think about it, if you run the cooler itself then the theory is flawed because it is constantly adding moisture to the system. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air, so when the warm air is cooled inside the excess moisture drips down the back of the cooler, and since this is a thermoelectric system, warm air is constantly being drawn into the cooler and cooled down, therefore nonstop moisture buildup.


----------



## jkorp (Sep 27, 2007)

Rahllin said:


> I also thought this would be a good idea, so did worr lord. He tried it, and he discovered that the leak was to much and had his beads flooded in a matter of days. Its a good idea in theory, sort of. When you think about it, if you run the cooler itself then the theory is flawed because it is constantly adding moisture to the system. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air, so when the warm air is cooled inside the excess moisture drips down the back of the cooler, and since this is a thermoelectric system, warm air is constantly being drawn into the cooler and cooled down, therefore nonstop moisture buildup.


True, and I did have a problem with my initial set up, the box was under sized. With a small catch box, the capacity is quickly maxed out and you start getting overflow. By adding the larger box, and having the fan blow on the box, you get more of the moisture back in the "air". I probably would get better evaporation if I used an always on fan instead of the Oust cycler. As you can see the box does get wet, but this is all the moister thats present in the system, no humidity gets added and the RH stays at 65%. It has been like this for 2 weeks now, with no problem. 
I will make a second catch, then just swap them out once a month or so, and give the other time to dry up a little.

So I think the keys are Size of catch, Surface Area to evaporate and Air flow via a fan. I think a cedar box is the way to go, since is holds and releases moisture and won't get moldy like a plastic container will.

Is warm air being drawn in all the time? I am not sure about that. I thought the thermoelectric plate was cooling the air in the unit and not pulling from the outside.


----------



## Rahllin (May 25, 2007)

Here is a picture of my "drainage system" if you can even call it that :r










Basically I used a bunch of packaging tape to funnel the drip down into some type of tube thing I got off of a funnel from Wal-Mart... and it sticks down into and drips into that ketchup bottle thing. Completely ghetto-rigged, but works amazingly. I never have to worry about water buildup in my cooler, everything stays perfect.


----------



## worr lord (Feb 3, 2007)

It's not really funneling into my beads, I just had to use their container for the picture because I didn't have a second container at the time


----------



## mdorroh (Feb 16, 2007)

awesome! I can't wait to get mine set up :ss


----------



## Silound (May 22, 2007)

Unfortunately I flooded my beads doing exactly that.

I'm trying to devise a way to build a cigar oasis from some spare computer parts and a sturdy plastic box. It will come custom with a funneling system to relocate condensate back into the reservoir and hopefully close the environment.


However, I need to empty out my cooler first /eyeroll.


----------



## Rahllin (May 25, 2007)

Silound said:


> Unfortunately I flooded my beads doing exactly that.
> 
> I'm trying to devise a way to build a cigar oasis from some spare computer parts and a sturdy plastic box. It will come custom with a funneling system to relocate condensate back into the reservoir and hopefully close the environment.
> 
> However, I need to empty out my cooler first /eyeroll.


If you ever devise this system... a thread will be needed... because it sounds very interesting. Good luck with it.


----------



## Addiction (May 8, 2007)

I see one small problem with your set up, you apear to have way to many excellent cigars. I can store some of those temporarily for you, I'd even go as far as to periodicaly sample them to be sure they are being well cared for.


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

Addiction said:


> I see one small problem with your set up, you apear to have way to many excellent cigars. I can store some of those temporarily for you, I'd even go as far as to periodicaly sample them to be sure they are being well cared for.


Oh man, you're so kind. Please PM me your address and I'll get those right out to you. :r


----------



## Addiction (May 8, 2007)

Darrell said:


> Oh man, you're so kind. Please PM me your address and I'll get those right out to you. :r


What can I say D? I'm a giver.....


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

Here is an updated photo with the shelves in.


----------



## SmokeyJoe (Oct 3, 2006)

Darrell said:


> Here is an updated photo with the shelves in.


Nice work, Darrell! Excellent set-up. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! :ss


----------



## Rahllin (May 25, 2007)

Nice... what kind of shelves did you use? Are those the little oust fans? I need to look for some of those in the stores... do they just run constantly? Every however many minutes? I'm interested...


----------



## borndead1 (Oct 21, 2006)

Lookin' good! :tu


Only thing I would do different is have 1 of those oust fans pointed at the bottom back wall to dissipate condensation. 




Wait....I'm...I'm having a vision...of the future...I see you getting...a second fridge....within...4 months!!!!


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

*VinoTemp BEAD ISSUE!*

I am having a weird bead issue now, I removed my cigar oasis. My RH is at 68% and I have the drain hole plugged. I have 1.5 lbs of 65% beads in the cooler. 1/2 lb on the middle shelf and 1/2 on the bottom shelf and 1/2 dry on the top shelf. Why would my RH be at 68% when I'm using 65% beads. I'm a tad confused.


----------



## Rahllin (May 25, 2007)

*Re: VinoTemp BEAD ISSUE!*



Darrell said:


> I am having a weird bead issue now, I removed my cigar oasis. My RH is at 68% and I have the drain hole plugged. I have 1.5 lbs of 65% beads in the cooler. 1/2 lb on the middle shelf and 1/2 on the bottom shelf and 1/2 dry on the top shelf. Why would my RH be at 68% when I'm using 65% beads. I'm a tad confused.


Do you have any condensation buildup on the bottom? That can put your whole cooler out of whack, and just out of curiosity, why do you have dry beads at the top? My cooler, despite the 2 hydra fans and 2 oust fans, my RH is ALWAYS 2-3% higher in the bottom of my cooler than the top of it, so wouldn't you want the wet beads at the top and the dry beads at the bottom?


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

*Re: VinoTemp BEAD ISSUE!*



Rahllin said:


> Do you have any condensation buildup on the bottom? That can put your whole cooler out of whack, and just out of curiosity, why do you have dry beads at the top? My cooler, despite the 2 hydra fans and 2 oust fans, my RH is ALWAYS 2-3% higher in the bottom of my cooler than the top of it, so wouldn't you want the wet beads at the top and the dry beads at the bottom?


I'm not sure about the condensation. I need to check on that. I will pull out the shelves and look when I get home. Yes, it would make more sense to have the dry beads on the bottom. Thanks for the tip. :tu


----------



## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

nice, i'm pumped to get a vinotemp. i'm going to make drawers for mine when i get it


----------



## barbourjay (Aug 9, 2007)

*Re: VinoTemp BEAD ISSUE!*



Darrell said:


> I'm not sure about the condensation. I need to check on that. I will pull out the shelves and look when I get home. Yes, it would make more sense to have the dry beads on the bottom. Thanks for the tip. :tu


just do what i did. if you are getting condensation put some natural sponges in the bottom of the wine fridge. it will absorb the moisture and not build mold/mildew. just wring them out once a week or so and you should be perfectly fine.

looking good there darrell!


----------



## Darrell (Aug 12, 2007)

*Re: VinoTemp BEAD ISSUE!*



barbourjay said:


> just do what i did. if you are getting condensation put some natural sponges in the bottom of the wine fridge. it will absorb the moisture and not build mold/mildew. just wring them out once a week or so and you should be perfectly fine.
> 
> looking good there darrell!


What exactly is a "natural sponge"?

Thanks Jeremy. :tu:tu


----------



## Papichulo (Jan 21, 2007)

*Re: VinoTemp BEAD ISSUE!*



Darrell said:


> What exactly is a "natural sponge"?
> 
> Thanks Jeremy. :tu:tu


A natural sponge is from the sea. You can find them at Bed, Baths and Beyond. I keep my fridge at 65 degrees with a after-market thermostat. I also have two pounds of heartfelt beads. It took me a while to regulate my temp and humidty. THen my go to expert (Muziq) told me to turn down the temp on the fridge and place the thermostat at 65% Also, have two hygrometers. One out of the box on one of the middle or upper shelves and one in a box. The one in the box will be more accurate reading of what your true humidy is. Now that I made that clear as mud you should be good to go.


----------



## The Mum (Mar 28, 2007)

Lots of good advice in this thread..


----------



## tireiron (Sep 6, 2007)

Nice set up, I have had mine for about three months now. They work very well.


----------

